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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
AT&T Broadband, LLC
Petition for Special Relief
from the Requirement to File an Annual FCC
Form 320 for All Individual Community Units
Served by a Common Cable System
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CSR-5725
ORDER
Adopted: October 29, 2001 Released: October 31, 2001
By the Chief, Cable Services Bureau:
I.Introduction
We have before us a Petition for Special Relief ("Petition") filed pursuant to Section 76.7(a)(1) of the
Commission's Rules by AT&T Broadband, LLC, ("AT&T") requesting that it be allowed to file a single
Form 320 for each of its physical systems, identifying the community units served by the system. In so
doing AT&T would be relieved of the requirement to file a Basic Signal Leakage Report, Form 320, for
each and every community unit served by a cable system, thus reducing the number of Forms 320 it is
required to file annually. AT&T asserts that the relief it requests is the very same as the Commission
granted in In re Time Warner Cable, DA 00-1880, 2000 WL 1166248 (F.C.C.) (2000). We grant the
relief requested.
II.Background
Protecting the aeronautical frequencies from harmful interference is of paramount importance to the
Commission. In order to enable cable systems maximum frequency use, however, the Commission's
Rules allow cable systems to use the aeronautical frequencies so long as they satisfy signal leakage and
channel frequency offset standards. An important component of these standards is the basic signal
leakage performance criteria or Cumulative Leakage Index ("CLI") for each system. We not only require
a CLI report as a prerequisite for operation on aeronautical frequencies, but we also require annual
measurement of each system's CLI to demonstrate a minimum level of interference potential in the
airspace above the cable plant. The results of the measurement are reported to us by Form 320 for each
community unit.
III.Discussion
The basic administrative unit for cable systems is the system community unit, which is assigned a Community
Unit Identifier ("CUID"). The Commission also uses "physical system" as a classification to facilitate
some processes. Physical plant may be organized into discrete components that serve multiple
community units. We assign each physical system a separate identification number ("PSID"). A physical
system generally is identical to the system as defined in Section 76.5(a) of the Rules. It is often defined
as the cable strand associated with a headend. Although CLI is measured or calculated for a physical
system, the operator must file a separate Form 320 for each CUID. Operators, however, need only file the
measurement exhibits for the lead community.AT&T states that it filed approximately 3540 Forms 320 in
2001. It further states that, increasingly, it is filing these Forms for fewer physical systems as it
collapses headends. AT&T suggests that it can reduce the number of Forms 320 it files to
approximately 582, if we grant the relief requested. AT&T asserts that this would generate a significant
savings for itself and suggests that a significant reduction in cost to the Commission would result as
well.AT&T expresses its intent to be consistent with our requirements in Time Warner Cable. We
remind AT&T, however, that it may only combine distinct cable service areas that are contiguous and
served by the same generation equipment when calculating CLI for consolidated physical systems.
IV.Conclusion
We find that AT&T presents essentially the same circumstances under which we granted relief to Time Warner
Cable. AT&T proposes to meet the same requirements as imposed on Time Warner. The resource
savings for both AT&T and the Commission will be substantial. We also expect that there will be no
adverse impact on air safety. Nevertheless, the grant will be made on condition that no intolerable
negative effect on air safety ensues. We will grant, therefore, the Petition subject to the following
conditions. AT&T may file a consolidated Form 320, including all required Exhibits, for each of its
PSIDs assigned by the Commission instead of individual Forms 320 for each CUID. This Form 320
must be for the lead community and must have attached an additional exhibit "Exhibit 1" which will
list the PSID and the lead community name and all its associated CUIDs. Exhibit 1 also will contain a
table with the CUIDs served in one column (sorted alphanumerically), the community served by each
CUID in the same row in the adjacent column, and an identification of the legal name used by the
operator in that community. Exhibit 1 will further include a separately signed statement verifying that all
communities listed are included in the comprehensive CLI calculation. To avoid confusion, the
consolidated Form 320 will be accepted for filing only if all CUIDs on Exhibit 1 have the same PSID in
current Commission records. Any change in PSIDs will require a separate filing, as required by Section
76.1610 of the Commission's Rules, before filing of these Forms 320. We will expect all of the Forms
320 filed by AT&T to conform to the sample Exhibit 1 provided with the Petition.
V.Ordering Clauses
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Sections 0.321 and 76.7(i) of the Commission's Rules, 47
C.F.R. 0.321 and 76.7(i), that the relief requested by AT&T Communications, Inc. IS GRANTED to
the extent indicated above.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
W. Kenneth Ferree
Chief, Cable Services Bureau